


Feeble

by Orangeplum



Category: Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: M/M, venom just wants a lot and eddies kind of a pussy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-22
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-08-06 02:13:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16379459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orangeplum/pseuds/Orangeplum
Summary: In which Venom will settle for nothing less than all of Eddie, and that concept alone kind of really scares him.





	1. Walls

**Author's Note:**

> I just like Venom trying to court Eddie. But also, I'd imagine it would be scary.

It starts at first with snooping. 

It’s a weird feeling, something Eddie has been trying to get used to, being conscious of another living thing coexisting under his skin. But the longer he and Venom have been bonded, the better hang he’s getting with telling where the symbiote is in his body.

He feels the subtle probing, like an occasional tap on the shoulder, but in his mind. It doesn’t bother him necessarily, but it is distracting.

“Hey, uh, what are you doing in there, exactly?” Eddie asks, distracted by the vague plethora of feelings emanating from his alien companion, none of which he can decipher, but all too bothersome to ignore anymore.

He can only reread the same sentence on paper so many times before it gets old.

**Who is Jessica?**

Eddie raises an eyebrow. “Jessica?”

He doesn’t know any Jessicas. He feels another curious probe, the sensation indescribable, like an itch too deep that he could never reach.

**Yes. With the butterfly.**

“Jessica with the butterf . . . ,” he starts, then realization dawns on him slowly but swiftly. A shutter of brief images flash in his mind’s eye, a college hookup with a butterfly tattoo, embarrassing, the sting of a palm blistering his cheek.

Eddie feels Venom’s annoyance, thick as syrup, as he puts up a mental wall. 

“You can’t do that,” he reprimands, not caring how the harshness of the words rushing from his mouth amplifies Venom’s distaste. “Don’t go rifling around in my head without permission. That’s private.”

 **There is no privacy with us. You knew this when you accepted our union** , Venom reasons, as if the idea of absolutely no barriers isn’t the most terrifying thing Eddie can think of with a relationship.

And yeah, this is a relationship, as fucked up and off-kilter as it is. He’s not exactly sure if there’s a label for what he and Venom are, but Eddie’s had too much on his jumbled mind to even consider getting close to asking his partner in crime on his thoughts on the whole thing. His life’s better, but he’s still barely keeping it together as is.

“Everyone has personal shit they, I don’t know, like to keep to themselves,” Eddie says carefully, as if talking to a particularly slow child. “Even people in the closest relationships don’t share _everything_. An embarrassing moment in my twenties isn’t exactly something I wanna see in a highlight reel of my life.”

**We are one in the same. We have told you many times before, Eddie. What we have is not comparable to your simple human standards of intimacy. Do not insult us and allow us access.**

Eddie frowns, chewing at the meat of his bottom lip. Venom’s tone sounds so sure, so confident. _He’s_ not sure he’s not intimidated by the level of intimacy that he wants of Eddie, though.

Even with Anne he had barriers around certain things. It’s only natural. What Venom’s asking for - it’s asking for complete exposure. Complete vulnerability. No safety nets.

If Venom notices the slight tremble of his hand as he sets his pen down, he doesn’t comment on it.

He considers it, letting Venom see all of him, his greatest hits and his lowest lows. To be accepted at his entirety is an overwhelming thought. It, well, it scares Eddie.

Even so, he feels Venom’s presence, patient and expectant inside his mind, tapping at the invisible wall he’s caged his thoughts in.

Venom lets out an aggravated, petulant howl, stalking around like a restless manbaby throwing a tantrum when Eddie not so subtly denies him access.

“Sorry, bud. Not today.”

They leave it at that. For now.

\--

The knocks get easier to sense as time goes on. Most times, Eddie will ignore it until he can no longer bear Venom’s nosiness. But sometimes he lashes out, looking like a crazy person arguing with himself on a street corner when Venom is feeling particularly insistent.

And yeah, it is San Francisco, a place where it might not be that uncommon for someone to talk to themselves in public. But he doesn’t enjoy the nervous glances he gets, like he’s going to bite someone out of the blue.

He’s not sure why Venom can’t understand the concept of privacy.

Venom cannot understand Eddie’s aversion to sharing _everything_.

“It’s not hard. Just stay out of my head,” Eddie chides on a hiss into the collar of his jacket. Venom’s presence in his mind today is deafening. He can’t concentrate when he has to consciously keep his nosy companion away from the archives of his memories.

 **You are keeping secrets** , Venom challenges, the rough edges around his voice accusatory and enraged. **You are keeping secrets from us, Eddie. Unacceptable.**

“They aren’t _secrets_ , they’re memories, asshole,” Eddie corrects vehemently. He feels Venom prickle at the back of his neck, a mass of restless energy. “Why do you care if you know what my third grade diorama looked like or what my score on my driver’s test was, anyway?”

**We are one. Therefore, your memories are ours to recall. We must know everything about you, Eddie. We must know who we are. Anything less is intolerable.**

Eddie quickly jogs across the crosswalk, wincing as he’s honked at for crossing too late. He shoves his hands into his jacket pockets, startling when pressure oozes around his fingers, embracing his palm and weaving through his fingers.

He jerks his hand free of his pocket in his surprise, much to Venom’s indignation.

**Do not reject us!**

“Sorry,” Eddie quickly amends, returning his hand into the cloth. When Venom latches on, now, the grip is heavy, constricting. “I wasn’t rejecting you,” he quietly says into his coat, hurrying his pace. How is it possible to feel claustrophobic outside? “Just surprised me, that’s all.”

He feels a rumble inside of him, skeptical but quieted when he squeezes reassuringly back at the mass in his hand.

“Jesus, what’s gotten you so sensitive today?”

Venom doesn’t say anything, but Eddie knows he wants to. He can’t place what he’s feeling, but it feels agitated, uneasy. Dejected.

He doesn’t like the cocktail of emotions, and he knows Venom can feel the sweat gathering on his palm because of it. Venom seems as though he’s going to bring up something Eddie definitely isn’t ready to talk about just yet when he feels his mouth pool with a sudden surge of saliva.

It’s gross and he has to wipe at his mouth with his sleeve before someone sees him drooling over himself, but he smells a waft of meat in the air that’s definitely the source of this newfound hunger. Eddie turns his head, seeking out the source of the delectable smell that has his stomach rumbling like a thunder chorus.

He spots the restaurant on the corner, his feet already headed in its direction as Venom hijacks his motor skills.

He’s never been more appreciative of Venom’s insatiable hunger until this very moment. 

Eddie’s relief must be palpable because he feels a small twinge of hurt flutter inside his rib cage as they walk in the door. It has him feeling guilty, never his intent to offend Venom.

But it doesn’t seem to deter the meal. And that’s all that matters at the moment, he supposes.

Food can be the temporary balm for his cowardice.

\--

The routine is simple. Eating, bathing, working, eating, movies, eating, and the occasional late night stroll.

It’s not exactly the life he pictured himself having, but he can’t really complain, either. Venom is good company, and after months of bonding together, they’re finally getting in sync with each other’s idiosyncrasies and personalities.

Work is steady, the one bonus of a neverending surplus of shitty people tainting their society, so Eddie finally has the funds to move out of his shithole of an apartment to another shithole apartment. But at least this one is in a better neighborhood and the shower doesn’t have mold in it.

Everything seems to be going right as rain until his heart hits another small speed bump.

His hand slows, hovering with a piece of popcorn just in front of his lips as a commercial for wedding rings comes on the television. Well, it’s not wedding rings, per se. It’s a jewelry commercial. But the couple on the screen is embracing with soft background music, images of diamond rings following suit.

He’s not really invested in the television tonight. T.V. is more Venom’s thing, a way to learn about humans, he says. Though Eddie’s pretty certain he just likes the stories more than anything.

 **It is quality time I enjoy spending with you, Eddie** , he had said before. Such a simple admission, but it did make his heart stutter. Venom seemed to soak up the appreciation wholeheartedly, buzzing contentedly inside his gut for the rest of the night.

The hesitation is brief, but Eddie doesn’t think he can play it off casually when an image of Anne surfaces in his thoughts without his permission.

Venom latches onto it, almost like he’s keeping it hostage, before Eddie can brush it away. Eddie mentally curses.

 **You are troubled** , he says matter-of-factly, as if he doesn’t know this isn’t a topic Eddie likes to dredge up.

“I’m not.”

 **Lies** , Venom objects, emerging a black web from Eddie’s arm to steal the popcorn from his hand. 

Eddie affixes him with his best unamused expression, but it’s kind of hard to lay it on thick when the person you’re dialoguing with is just a tendril of amorphous goo without a face. It really puts him at a disadvantage.

“OK. Maybe a little,” he reluctantly admits. Mercifully, the commercial decides to end there.

**We thought you liked Anne.**

Eddie reels his head back, a bit taken off guard. “Of course I like Anne,” he says, but even to his own ears the twinge of dejection in his quiet voice sounds a bit pathetic.

 **Then why does it hurt here?** As if to prove his point, Venom snakes out, gently rests a part of him against Eddie’s chest. He knows he can feel the fluttering of his heartbeat, a bit unsteady but still rhythmic. **Why did you think about her so suddenly? We don’t understand.**

Eddie tries for words but ends up deflating against his couch with a sigh. Instead, he chooses to open the box that are his memories of time with Annie, throwing pictures at Venom, particularly ones of their engagement, the ring, her walking away from him when he fucked up so royally.

Venom makes a noise of understanding, the spindle of black retreating from his chest. It somehow makes Eddie feel worse.

“Look, it’s no big deal. Can we just go back to the movie?” Eddie finds himself asking, feeling antsy and bare. He doesn’t like talking about this; he doesn’t like trying to explain the intricacies of past relationships to his current one. They’re different. They shouldn’t be compared.

Even so, he feels Venom pushing again, against his mind. Eddie won’t budge on this.

**Is this normal?**

“Is what normal?” Eddie asks absentmindedly, fishing around for another piece of buttered popcorn in the bowl in his lap. Venom bubbles upwards, sitting beneath the surface of his chest. His presence is warm, causing Eddie to involuntarily shudder.

**To feel sad. To be unhappy about a person who is no longer a large portion of your life, taking up time and space in your daily routine. It has been eight months since your memory of your separation from Anne. So why do you feel this inside?**

_Because I still love her. Because being rejected hurts. Because I still feel guilty_. These thoughts all come to mind. Instead, Eddie sighs again and settles on, “Yeah, it’s normal. If that person was really special to you, you’d need time to process and move on. Sometimes it takes more time than we want it to.”

Venom tingles beneath his skin, ever silent. Eddie runs his hand through his messy hair with a small laugh. He tries his best to put it in terms that an alien can understand.

“Put it this way. If I ever died and you needed a new host, would you still think about me for a while?”

Black bleeds through his skin, squeezing tight and protective around his torso, so quickly and unexpectedly that it takes Eddie’s breath away. It’s like a bear hug, but from both inside and out. It’s like nothing he’s ever felt before.

 **We would not let that happen. You will never die** , Venom vehemently asserts. Eddie laughs in disbelief, awkwardly patting at the mass under his shirt he’s now wearing like a second skin.

“Everyone dies eventually, Venom.”

He’s squeezed tighter, anxious ripples emitting from his companion inside of him, like throwing a stone in a tepid lake. He doesn’t like the turn this conversation took.

**Eddie.**

“OK, OK. I don’t want to get into that. It’s OK. I’m not going anywhere,” he reassures, hoping to ease some of the distress taking hold of him. Venom’s grip doesn’t relent. He weaves himself through muscle and bone, pushing closer. 

They’re together on a cellular level, Eddie knows this, but the realization that Venom doesn’t accept that as nearly close enough sends a full body shiver down his person. He wants it all, all of Eddie, inserting himself into every nook and crevice inside of him, desperate to know everything, be everywhere, feel everything.

Nothing Eddie can give him will ever be enough.

A gasp hiccups inside his lungs, overwhelmed with this prospect. Eddie feels like his head is swimming.

He vaguely registers that Venom is holding his hand again, like in his pocket on the street the other week. His presence is pressing him into the cushions, unrelenting.

**Eddie. Give it to us. We want it. Want it bad. Let us be your missing piece. We know you want it like we want it, so give in. Let us in.**

It reverberates in his skull. He’s trembling now. He can see it, even under the strong hold Venom has on his limbs. Warmth bleeds down, from his neck, slowly, like sap, until his limbs are tingling and weighed down with it.

Venom has his body. He’s had it since the moment he soaked into his skin in Carlton Drake’s lab. He can maneuver Eddie like a puppet if he wants to, has chosen to do so before. That’s never been an issue.

Venom is knocking against his mind, the one place he has limited access to. Eddie feels his insistence in waves. He wants in, he wants access to all of Eddie, not just his body.

And for a moment, Eddie clenches his eyes shut and chokes on nothing. It’s a tantalizing thought, but also - it terrifies him. To lose himself, weave together with Venom with no hope of ever untangling, the lines blurring between two to one being -

“I can’t,” he falters. He wants to lean into Venom’s presence, but something is digging his mental heels into the dirt.

Eddie is on his feet, pacing, in a heartbeat. Venom lets him up from the sofa, his mood that was so pleasant a few minutes ago now as sour as old milk. The warmth in his limbs recedes, Venom’s feelings of hurt and anger and rejection stealing the air from Eddie’s lungs as he dips his head under the spray of the sink.

“C’mon,” Eddie whines, his knuckles white in their grip against the lip of the sink. The lukewarm water rolls down his neck, his chin, grounding him somewhat. “Don’t be like that. Look what you’re asking of me.”

He sounds like a broken child, his voice withered and small under the turbulence of Venom’s displeasure.

**You reject us. You reject us, Eddie.**

“No!” He pulls his head from the stream of water, his eyes darting frantically against the musty tile of the kitchen wall. “I’m not. I’m just- God, give me a minute.”

He fumbles to turn the water off, blindly reaching for a dishrag to wipe over his face. Venom waits for Eddie to regain some of his composure. The collar of his shirt now clings to his skin.

“I’m new to this. This whole- _sharing everything_ thing. It’s- It’s scary. I’m not sure how to,” Eddie stops, taking a calming breath. “I just need time. To learn it. Let me learn it, OK?”

The hurt from his failed relationship with Anne still threatens to consume him from time to time. Everything with Venom feels amplified, more than any relationship he’d previously had. If there ever was a mistake, or something happened out of his control-

The addicting feeling of being secure like he’s never felt before, if he ever were to lose it, he’s not sure how to come back from that.

Eddie isn’t sure if these are conscious, word punctuated concepts or if they’re just a flurry of feelings and emotions, but they seem to quiet Venom down.

He has a ringing in his ears now that Venom isn’t forcing himself loudly into every part of him available.

 **We will wait** , he finally says. Eddie lets his words sink in, shutting his eyes with a grateful nod.

He just needs time, that’s all. They’ve only been bonded for a few months. He just needs time.

Venom slides across his chest in a makeshift hug, resting against the beating of Eddie’s heart. It’s an intimate gesture that also carries possessive undertones. Venom makes sure Eddie knows he is not going anywhere. Ever. 

They will never be separated. It’s a reality that is both terrifying and reassuring.

**But not forever.**


	2. Labels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie learns to be a little introspective after he puts his foot in his mouth. Venom still doesn't take rejection well.

**You are clumsy, Eddie.**

Eddie hears the chide with less than zero focus, blinking as his vision swirls like a watercolor canvas drenched in too much liquid, colors and shapes melting together. Venom’s words are unamused and irritable, but he sounds more put off than actually angry.

Even if he were angry, Eddie would tell him to go fuck himself. It’s his damn fault there’s blood on his kitchen floor and the ghost of throbbing pain against his forehead.

He wipes the remaining blood from his skin with a swipe of his wrist, grateful for the flesh already melded back together in one piece.

“Damn near killed me,” he mutters, annoyed as he pulls himself from the floor, regaining his balance with a palm to his countertop.

Venom thrums restlessly up and down his spine, a ball of raw nerves and energy. In the swirl of emotions, Eddie catches a brief twinge of guilt. Too bad it’s hidden under an almost unbearable surge of anxiety that has Eddie’s stomach rolling.

There are downsides, too, it turns out, to feeling everything his parasite experiences.

 **Not a parasite** , Venom reminds, though there isn’t any bite to his words.

Before Eddie knows what’s going on, a glass of water is inserted gently into his free hand. He blinks curiously down at it, watching as a black spindle almost bashfully disappears back beneath his skin.

“Thanks,” he says, taking a few quick gulps before depositing the glass in the sink. Eddie bends down and picks up the now spilled carton of milk. He sighs, running his fingers through his hair with a shake of his head.

“A little warning next time before you . . . What did you do, anyway?” Eddie asks, dropping the carton into his trash can.

Venom shifts somewhere near his belly button, hesitating before choosing to hide between Eddie’s shoulder blades instead. He’s halfway through wiping up the blood on the floor when Venom decides to finally speak up.

**We saw it on the T.V. Wanted to try it.**

“Uh-huh,” Eddie says carefully. “I just woke up. How did you expect me to handle getting slapped on the ass out of nowhere?”

Even saying it aloud makes Eddie flush down his neck uncomfortably. A not so unpleasant throb resonates beneath the material of his sweatpants, all too aware of the sting still clinging to the meat of his ass.

 **The man in the movie did it. He was being playful and it made the woman laugh. I wanted to try it on you, see if you thought it was funny like she did** , he admits. Eddie can’t quite pinpoint the emotion behind the tone of his voice, but it sends a shiver down his spine. He feels Venom revel in it, buzzing excitedly in tow against his scapula. 

“Why am I the woman in this scenario?” Eddie grumbles, more so to himself, but Venom catches it.

 **You are the only one with a derriere, Eddie** , he supplies, as if that’s the most obvious answer in the world.

“OK, well, future reference. Don’t smack my ass in the morning. I don’t need that kind of surprise when I’m not awake yet. I can’t afford to dent my head on anymore countertops, either.”

Eddie’s never felt so drained as he drags his feet to the toaster, popping in two strawberry poptarts and resting his elbows against the linoleum.

Venom slowly emerges from his shoulders, a tendril pulling a plate out of the cabinet.

**Fair enough. Is there a more suitable time you would prefer?**

He’s about to laugh at the joke until it isn’t followed with some smartass comment. Eddie nearly swallows his tongue when he realizes he’s being genuine . . . he thinks.

The toaster pops, cutting through the white noise of his mind.

“Uh. No. Not really.”

He eats in relative silence, stewn lazily on his ratty old sofa, the morning news set to low volume on his television screen. He’s only half paying attention to the headlines passing by, the taste of cheap strawberry flavoring leaving an unsavory aftertaste on his tongue.

When he feels he’s a bit more awake, mentally processing the morning and the unplanned scare that caused him physical bodily harm, Eddie flicks at some of the sprinkles with one of his fingers, opening his mouth soundlessly a few times before words actually come out.

“Hey.”

Venom makes a vague noise of interest, focusing more on the closing dog pound on the television than Eddie.

Wow, this is awkward. “Why’d you do that? Spank me, I mean.”

Even to his own ears his voice sounds timid and uncomfortable. He feels Venom shift his interest away from the dogs to Eddie. It’s bizarre and he hasn’t quite gotten used to that yet. It’s not entirely an unpleasant feeling, knowing exactly where the symbiote’s attention is based on subtle mood shifts.

**We already told you. It’s like the man and the woman in the movie, Eddie. We wanted to try it and see if you laughed.** He says it like it’s that simple; like it explains everything. If anything, it leaves Eddie’s mind in more confused turmoil.

“OK . . .”

**Relationships are still somewhat elusive to us. It’s hard to differentiate between boundaries and interactions. We were curious, since we are in the same position as the man and the woman, if that is a common thing to do or if it’s only relative to their particular individual situation.**

“ . . . What?” he so eloquently sputters.

 **Please, keep up, Eddie** , Venom says, a bit exasperated with having to repeat himself.

For a heart stoppingly tense moment, Eddie’s limbs won’t move. He thinks it must be Venom’s doing, but the symbiote doesn’t assert control over him at the moment, Eddie can feel it.

He wets his lips and chooses his words carefully. “Why do you think we’re like the man and the woman?”

Eddie experiences the excitement rise up from his belly, warmth blooming underneath his skin like a heating blanket as Venom rushes animatedly to the surface, almost like he was eager to be asked for further clarification. Black bleeds down his forearm, stringing across his skin like a descending spiral staircase, until one thin strand encircles the width of his ring finger on his left hand.

Venom is practically vibrating against him, pride and contentment emanating off of him in waves.

**Together, like them, but better. We will never separate, Eddie. A perfect match. A perfect union.**

He doesn’t know what to say. It’s not even ten in the morning; he didn’t expect the day to start this way at all. 

Eddie eyes the strand, the makeshift ring around his finger, carefully turning his palm up to get a full look at it. It’s not off-putting, but the sight of it does make him swallow compulsively, the sudden urge to get some fresh air an impulse he can’t ignore. It flashes like a big neon sign in his brain.

Venom must see it, too, for the warmth inside of him dies down in a matter of seconds. The black stops vibrating against his skin. For a moment, Eddie thinks Venom is going to recede inside of him again, hide away and whine about rejection like he always does when Eddie isn’t as sure as him about something.

He doesn’t understand that it isn’t like that at all. You can’t reject something you don’t even know what you want from it.

The opposite happens, however; Eddie winces when his finger is squeezed so tight, the skin at the top begins to flare purple.

“Stop that,” Eddie snaps, shaking his hand in hopes that Venom will let up. His arm moves without his permission, pinching him hard against the cheek. “Hey!”

 **One month and twelve days** , Venom hisses. His voice rumbles like thunder in Eddie’s skull, an intimidation tactic, no doubt. **One month and twelve days since you asked us for time. We are patient. We work with you. Yet you still are unsure, no closer to figuring out your own thoughts than before. Are you trying? Are you? What are you so unsure of, Eddie? Do you not want us?**

“I never said that,” Eddie protests, feeling trapped and ambushed. He doesn’t appreciate the third degree.

**You hurt us with your indecisiveness.**

OK, ouch. He definitely doesn’t like to hear that out loud. But how’s a guy really supposed to wrap his mind around bonding with an alien? It’s hard enough trying to make it work with a person, but this is so foreign to him. Having a relationship with someone in his head - he can’t help but admit it makes him feel a bit crazy at times, even throughout all the positives of it.

**We like being together, Eddie. We chose you over everything.**

Eddie wilts. “I know that . . . I like being with you, too.”

Venom releases his hand, much to Eddie’s chagrin. He reaches out to stop the initial retreat, but Venom makes sure to disappear before Eddie can properly touch him. When he speaks now, his voice is quieter, and Eddie feels like a grade A jackass at the aching inside of him.

Hurt. Anxiety. Longing.

Venom throws these feelings at Eddie, intent that they pierce at him like barbs, accompanied with an image of Anne. He pulls the memory of their first dates together. Before Eddie can close off his thoughts, Venom places them in front of his mind’s eye.

Had he not had Venom as company in his head for months and only seen him physically manifest, like their first encounter, Eddie would’ve never believed something that looked so terrifying could be surprisingly gentle at times.

**You did not hesitate to be with Anne. Why do you hesitate with us? Choose us. Say you want what we want, too, and give yourself to us.**

“I am with you,” Eddie reasons. “How much more can I be with you than letting you live rent free in my head? We’re closer than anyone I know.”

Venom lashes out, bombarding Eddie with his clear dissatisfaction, tightening and expanding in his ribcage until Eddie can’t catch his breath.

**NOT GOOD ENOUGH.**

Eddie grips at his shirt, recovering from the brief, overwhelming sensation of negative emotions Venom erupted with, evening his breathing in the quiet aftermath as all goes silent.

“You’re such a baby sometimes, you know that?” Eddie snaps.

He receives no response, feels nothing as Venom tucks himself away somewhere deep inside that Eddie can’t reach. If he focuses hard enough, he can feel the small presence of warmth somewhere, but Venom does his best to retreat where Eddie can’t get to him.

“Throw a tantrum like a spoiled brat, then. See if I care.”

Eddie kicks idly at his coffee table as he stands, stalking into the kitchen to wash his plate.

Venom can be caring, can be protective, and even funny, at times. Eddie knows this. But he also knows he can be impatient and selfish and immature all in one. He’s been this way as long as he’s known him, pulling him every which way and causing a ruckus around the city, insulting him, hurling him up buildings, and monologuing to robbers just to see them quiver before severing their heads from their necks.

It’s something he’s grown to become accustomed to. Doesn’t mean he has to like it, though.

\--

Venom is silent for the better part of a week. Eddie tries to cajole him out of his mood at first, but when he gets no leeway, he let’s him mope in his solitude.

The cold shoulder does sting more than he’d like to admit, but there’s not much else he can do if the symbiote won’t converse with him.

To make up for the hurt that takes hold around his heart, Eddie spitefully calls him a baby or a coward. He gets little to no response when he thinks these things other than a small flare of petulant frustration.

It’s a lonely week. He doesn’t want to admit it but he feels a bit empty without the back and forth banter inside his head. With Venom sulking, it almost does feel like he’s alone again. And it’s much too similar to the feeling he suffered through the six months after Anne’s breakup. 

Eddie wonders how he managed to keep waking up in the morning all that while with the loneliness that threatened to swallow him whole.

He eats healthy that week, much to Venom’s displeasure. The hunger that grips him increasing each morning is nearly unbearable. No matter how much vegetables and grains he consumes, it never lessens the neverending hunger possessing him.

If Venom wants to eat something he actually enjoys, he’s going to have to talk to Eddie face to face to change his diet. Eddie secretly hopes he does it soon because feeling famished all day is distracting and painful. 

It’s a dirty tactic, but he doesn’t much care at the moment. The silence of his apartment is a consequence that borders on overkill just because he has some reservations on the intimacy Venom’s asking of him.

Eddie taps at the beer bottle in front of him, gently rolling it between his palms while he gets lost in his thoughts. The bar isn’t crowded but it isn’t baren either. It still smells the same when he used to frequent more often when his life was in the crapper. 

He hates that he retreats here at any low moment in his life. It’s probably not the healthiest thing in the world, but hey. It’s Saturday and he’s lonely, so who gives a shit?

Venom sees them as married, huh? Eddie doesn’t know why that seems surprising, but it does. From everything the symbiote has been expecting of him, it really shouldn’t be shocking that he deems Eddie as his life partner.

That’s what they are, truthfully. He has no intention of separating from Venom. He’s just never considered giving it a label.

Eddie rubs his hand across his jaw, furrowing his brow. He glances disinterestedly at the baseball game on the grainy television in the corner.

 _No wonder he’s so mad then_ , Eddie thinks with a grimace. It’s like finding out your spouse was having reservations about committing themselves to you.

There’s no point in comparing their current relationship to his and Anne’s, but Eddie’s traitorous mind does it anyway. He had almost no resistance to being with Anne. He welcomed any intimacy they shared.

“He scares me . . .” Eddie groans quietly into the palm of his hand, hanging his head in shame. Inside, Venom is deafeningly silent.

Is it because he’s an alien? Is it because he’s in his head? Is it because of what he looks like? Eddie can’t quite pinpoint what it is about defining their relationship with a label that scares him, but he can’t lie to himself. And he can’t lie to Venom.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know why this is so hard,” Eddie confesses, allowing his mind to become drunk on the guilt.

Venom doesn’t give him a response and that hurts more than he’d like to admit. Eddie winces, then drinks from the spout of his bottle. The beer tastes bitter and vile against his tongue. He nearly gags but coughs quickly to mask it before anyone notices.

When he glances around to make sure he hasn’t made a fool of himself, his eyes catch a woman sitting on the opposite side of the counter.

His gaze darts away quickly, just as she ducks her head. 

He probably just imagined it anyway. Peeling at the edge of the beer label with his thumb, Eddie chances another glance in her direction and- 

Yeah, there’s no doubt about it. Her gaze is intentional.

 _Shit_ , he thinks in a rush, getting caught looking at her a second time. He doesn’t need this kind of attention. He’s lonely, sure, but he knows it’ll be temporary. Things will get better in a day or so.

Eddie silently prays that she won’t say something to him when he senses a presence beside him. He watches as she bashfully pulls a stool out, sitting on it and knocking their knees together.

The woman tucks a strand of loose hair behind her ear, and Eddie feels himself swallowing. She’s eye-catching, he can’t deny. And even though he wants to pay his tab and exit the bar in a hurry, he remains seated, like a deer frozen in headlights.

“Hi, Stranger. May I sit here?”

Eddie nods dumbly, his tongue feeling heavy and useless in his mouth when she smiles at him. 

For the first time in a week, Eddie feels Venom’s presence echoing from a place deep inside of him. It’s a wordless, small sound, but there is no doubt about it that it is disturbed and angry.

Well, fuck. So much for having a quiet night to himself.


End file.
